Crowds flood to H&H’s sunny spring sale at Buxton

New homes were found for 61 popular classics at H&H’s Spring sale at Buxton last week (April 18). They ranged in price from £40,700 for a 1958 Jaguar XK150 SE Drophead Coupe to £700 for a 1984 Jaguar XJS Coupe (what a lot of car for the money!), and in age from the 1926 Swift 10HP QA Sports (£9,570) to a 1992 Bentley Turbo RL (£13,200).

Good XK Jaguars are always in demand, and the Old English White XK150 cut quite a dash, as you might expect of a car that had been converted from left- to right-hand drive and had nearly £60,000 lavished on it back in 1990. Not far behind it on price was an equally stunning 1934 Alvis Speed 20 SC Four-Seat Tourer that had begun life as a drophead coupe. Always destined to be one of the stars of the show, it eventually sold for £39,600.

There was much competition over the 1967 Aston Martin DB6 that sold for £33,000. Of varying condition it is now likely to be the subject of considerable restoration. After which it could no doubt command nearer £80,000, considering the way Aston Martin prices have risen of late.

Among the many cars to better their top estimates were the totally immaculate Sun Bronze-coloured 1964 Jensen CV8 MKII - a well-known concours car that fetched £19,250 - and both the sale’s Frogeye Sprites that made £5,390 and £6,050 respectively. The very pretty red 1962 MGA MKII Coupe also surpassed expectations by realising £8,910.

Though the rarer of Porsche’s 911s are commanding ever higher prices these days, the regular cars remain great value. The 1990 Carrera 4 (£12,980), 1990 Carrera 2 (£9,360) and 1985 Carrera (£9,020) were all pretty much on the money.

Of the oddballs, the 1961 Downton-tuned 1275cc Morris Mini Pickup that made the Guinness Book of records for driving the 1900 miles from Oxford to Moscow on one tank of fuel, changed hands for £5,280. Of the four registration numbers on offer, 1 BBC fetched £22,000, though is thought to have gone to a private buyer rather than Auntie Beeb herself, as might have been expected.

Highlights of the previous day’s well-attended automobilia sale, included a trio of original Gurney Nutting sports car coachwork drawings (£844) and one of the 1932 Bluebird, signed by Malcolm Campbell himself (£1,238). The latter will remain in the UK, despite strong bidding from America. Interest in garage ephemera remains buoyant and the British Dominions Empire Motor Policy enamel sign fetched £1,350, while the Exide Batteries lightbox made £1,013.

The next H&H sale is at Kempton Park on May 12 and is for motorcycles, bicycles and motobilia. The next car and automobilia sale will be at Buxton on June 19/20.

For further information on all H&H auctions refer to classic-auctions.com.